Hero's Pairing
by Ole Codgers Wrath
Summary: Rating's to be safe. Boy gets swept into his fave video game, meets his fave characters and finds things different than what he thought. Chap 4 UP!! Please r/r. Thankyou!
1. Prolouge

1 Prolouge  
  
  
  
{That chicken was horrible}, he thought to himself, {Truly nasty and overcooked, like always}, he sighed, {Then again, it was cheap, so I can't complain.} He drew his book, Hagakure: The Way of the Samurai, from the pocket of his army-surplus field jacket and continued reading. No one could understand why the hell a young man, twenty years old and in the prime of his life, would want to sit at a lunch table and read about a society where men would slice open their stomachs for the slightest illusion of dishonor, especially right after lunch. {How could they? Bushido isn't just about chasing death for honor. It was about doing what was right, no matter the cost.} Turning each page and absorbing the knowledge of the ages, time slipped slowly along, until a knocking sound came from his immediate left. His heart jumped and his head turned, eyes widening a little, but he did his best to hide the surprise behind his thin, gray-framed spectacles. The shock turned to recognition as his falsely alleged attacker, standing six-foot-three to his left across from the wall made partially of imitation wood, finally spoke.  
  
"You gonna sit around and read your book or are you going back to work sometime around the year's end?" The sarcasm was rich and thick off his tongue, "You do know your about fifteen minutes late getting back from lunch." His thirty-year-old grin was easy to notice on his dark, stubble- ridden face. His glasses were slightly thicker around the frames, much like his belly, which looked to slime over his pants and belt buckle. Lucky thing his green shirt was large enough or that would have been a nauseating sight to behold.  
  
The man sitting at the table put down his book and looked at his watch. Nine-twenty in the evening. Seventeen minutes after he was supposed to clock back in from lunch at nine o'two. "Damn!" He stood up, put on his jacket, reached across the table, and put on his leather "Indiana Jones style" hat. Sliding the book back into his pocket, he looked to his friend the timekeeper, still standing across the wall from him, "Thanks, Joe, would've probably put on an extra hour just reading. That would piss off Kevin real bad." He spared time for a laugh as he walked out of the lunch area and into the back hallway of the store.  
  
Walking behind him, Joe chuckled, "You know, Jack, maybe you can just cut yourself open like in your book just to say you're sorry."  
  
"I do that and when Kevin's off work, you'd havta deal with your boss not being around to open the truck doors for you." Jack spat back with half-hearted enthusiasm.  
  
Searching his pocket opposite the one with his book, he pulled his nametag and swiped it through the time clock. Beep. Back on the clock. He looked at his nametag with causal notice. Jack Mitchel, Receiving manager for Shop-Mart, cheapest goods for the best prices. He groaned. He did not want to run a crew of knucklehead truck unloaders. He did not mind the job he had, the hours were fine for a guy with nothing to sufficiently call a life. Get up, go to work, go home, go to sleep, that was about it. The pay kept a roof over his head and food in his gut, and his crew was an alright bunch when he wasn't giving orders. Jack didn't like that. Giving orders made him feel like he was above the four others he worked with, and that was a feeling he never condoned in himself. That kind of arrogance was something Jack Mitchel accepted as part of his being, as well as selfishness, egotism, self-indulgence, and so on, but he absolutely refused to let those aspects of the human persona overcome him. Honor was important, compassion was not a weakness, and doing what was right came above even his own life, or so he believed. Having this job also meant he had to stay in one place and never experience he open lifestyle of a vagrant, or a wanderer. To put his morals to the test. This troubled Jack, as the question of the durability of his beliefs was always at arms length from his heart.  
  
{A fighter in olden days,} he thought, {when a man of old virtues would be worth something in the fates thread line. When the skills of a sword would be a better asset than a gun any day.}  
  
They were crossing the corridor to the layaway department when Joe stopped. Jack didn't notice since he was walking slightly faster so he was farther ahead. "Hey Jack, I'll be there in a few minutes. I'm gonna go to the bathroom and blow it out my ass." He said in a matter-of-fact way that Joe noticed always made Jack laugh. {Seems telling a joke is the only time that kid ever smiles. When is he gonna find some happiness in his life outside a bad joke?} He thought to himself.  
  
Jack turned back with a grin on his face, "Okay. See you in a few. Don't strain or you might tear something," He softly laughed to himself and continued his travels to the Receiving Area.  
  
A blond-haired beauty passed Jack's field of view and, always the gentleman, he tipped his hat to her and uttered a humble "Good evening, miss," and continued on his course. {Just eye candy for the hormones, sad she's got the personality of an eggplant, and if the choice came I'd take the eggplant hands down.} With that thought through his skull, Jack sighed heavily and lowered his head. He hadn't noticed that he had not stopped walking the entire time, but merely slowed to a snail's speed. He was just now passing into the intersection of the back hallway of the store and the corridor leading into the Shoe Department.  
  
  
  
1.1 


	2. It begins

1 It begins  
  
  
  
A/N: Glossary of terms for those who don't work with warehouse equipment:  
  
Pallet: Contraption approx. 3 feet long and 2 ½ feet wide made of either wood or plastic. Used for holding great amounts of freight for transport.  
  
Pallet Jack: Tool used to lift pallets and pull them easily by one person. Also called a "manual forklift".  
  
  
  
As he crossed the corridor, Jack saw something out of the corner of his left eye. A pink flash, small and bright, shoot from one side of the door to the other, parallel to the path he and Joe were taking. Jack stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned his head to the sales floor. Puzzlement overwhelmed his dark brown eyes. His mind was in such ecstasy from the sensation of a mystery to have entered his routine lifestyle that he barely felt Joe bump into him.  
  
"What you lookin' at? Is she cute? Does she have an eight-year-old sister?" He joked. The sister part has been a running joke back there for who knows how long.  
  
"I thought I saw something. A pink flash of light streak across the doorway," Jack muttered, not knowing or caring how Joe would accept this information, but further investigation would have to wait.  
  
Kevin came walking up from the hall Jack and Joe were supposed to enter a few minutes ago. He was a man just entering his fifties, physically anyways. Bald head, the rest was white around the sides. Potbelly from so much beer, but that was all right for him. Mentally he was a kid at heart. Just wants to kick back and enjoy his years remaining getting screwed every night if he could find a woman willing. He was laid back, except when he wanted something done, and if someone was in his way, he was the devil incarnate.  
  
"Let's get this freight on the floor, I wanna go home and get drunk on time tonight," he shouted from twenty feet in front of us.  
  
Grabbing a pallet jack each, Joe, Jack, and the rest of the crew lifted pallets of freight to pull to the sales floor to be stocked by the floor personnel. There were not many, so the work was short. During that time Jack never saw the pink flash again, but near the end of his workday there came an ear-piercing scream from the Lawn and Garden Care department at the front corner of the store.  
  
The whole crew raced to the point of the screams, Jack almost tripped over a mass. He looked down and noticed he was stepping over a body of a man he did not know. The man was, Jack guessed, six-two if he was vertical. There was a large welt on the base of his nose. {Instant kill shot from the look} Jack thought. He knelt down and put two fingers to the man's neck. No pulse. He was dead. Empathy filled Jack's heart, but no emotion crossed his face. He merely stood up and walked to the crowd forming in the patio area of Lawn and Garden.  
  
Making his way to the front of the crowd, he saw what was possibly the most amazing sight of his life. Near the shut fence gate was a red bush. Its petals were red and orange and yellow. One could mistake it for being on fire if it was smoldering, and one could mistake it for a normal plant if it did not have eyes. As red and orange as its petals but with dark lids that blinked.  
  
Jack's mind was reeling at the astounding creature that has entered his life. Rummaging through his mental files for some idea of what this new plant could be the only match was found in his memories of video games. A word, soft enough to be drowned out by the crowd, but loud enough for his own ears he muttered three words.  
  
"A Deku Scrub?"  
  
Joe stepped forward, head and hand low, seeming very non-threatening to most animals. Slowly he called to it. The living bush took a couple steps forward and extended something from its center that resembled a mouth. Joe smiled at it, Thinking this was a good sign.  
  
Jack knew better now. Recognizing what it was and what the scrub could do, he searched frantically around the patio. His eyes fell upon a rubber trash can lid. Jack grasped it only to realize he was too late.  
  
A yelp had let out from Joe's position. Jack spun about in expectant horror, but sighed in semi-relief. Joe had moved, or slipped, depending on who you ask, and fallen just far enough to be struck across the left side of his head.  
  
He recoiled in intense pain. That sonofabitch! His mind cried out through the pain. Falling back he covered his gushing head wound. Soon he leaned forward and saw the red bush bearing down on him. Joe knew this time; {he's not gonna miss. Dear god I'm gonna be killed by a bush!!} The bush fired another shot.  
  
Jack almost missed his chance, holding the lid in both hands he leapt in front of Joe. The shot struck the lid and bounced off, landing on the concrete floor harmlessly. Now was Jack's chance. With his new shield, he rushed the creature, slamming it against the fence. The deku scrub's mouth bulged. {He's gonna fire again, gotta act fast.} Acting on that thought he mashed the lid flat across its mouth. The bulge slid back into the scrubs body. Its body began to swell to twice its size. {Crap! It's gonna pop! Gotta move qui- }  
  
The deku scrub exploded before Jack could finish his thought. Jack flew backwards from the force and landed, ever so gracefully, on his currently heroic backside. Jack groaned as he sat back up and examined himself for possible wounds.  
  
"Well," Jack commented with a devilish sneer across the left side of his mouth, "can't say that bitch doesn't go out with a bang." Ignoring the groans of the frightened spectators, he rolled to his knees and looked at his friends head wound. "Looks about as ugly as your face, Joe, but then again I'm not a doctor." He grinned, hoping Joe would share in the joke. Seeing it fail, he stood up and looked about the onlookers. "Okay folks, shows over. Go back to your meager lives."  
  
The crowd started to disperse. Jack watched them go, already dreading the moment when Kevin would call him an idiot for doing something so dumb and foolish. That moment would not come now, for his eyes had caught a pink light within the disappearing wall of bodies. He followed the pink light back into the building and to its owner.  
  
A small boy held out his palm and the light landed gently on it. The light faded a bit, and Jack saw that within the light was the tiniest woman he ever saw. The little boy was at least three feet tall, and dressed in green. What was odd was that he looked like he was dressed for a job at Santa's workshop. Pointy ears and shoes to match. The tiny woman, Jack now noticed, had transparent wings with sparkled a bit. {A fairy and her kokiri partner. It makes sense that if there's a deku scrub here, then that pink light I saw at Shoes had to be a fairy.} 


	3. The Light

1 The Light  
  
  
  
Jack knelt in front of the boy with the kindest smile he could muster, which was not much. "Hey, kid. How ya doin'?" he asked causally.  
  
Amazingly the little boy spoke candidly as well, "I'm okay, mister. Thank you for dealing with that deku scrub, it chased me all the way from the Lost Woods." His voice was young, maybe ten years old. He cradled the fairy like a sister in his pocket.  
  
{I'll be damned the kid speaks English,} Jack thought, {or whatever he might call it.} "The Lost Woods, huh," his tone was prodding, yet soft. "So you must be from Hyrule, am I right? What's your name anyways? I'm Jack."  
  
"I am Rando," the small figure said with a smile as he pointed to his pocket, "and this is Pava." The tiny woman flapped her wings and floated to Jack's face.  
  
Her face was flawless, and when she giggled her smile seemed to make her pink light slightly brighter. In a high-pitched voice she gleefully spoke, "Hi."  
  
Jack gave a gentle expression and returned with his own hello. He then asked the boy, "So, little Rando, how is it you and your cute friend ended up here?" Pava blushed at the "cute" remark.  
  
Rando lowered he head, and after some time raised it again with a serious face attached to it, "I was wandering through the Lost Woods like always, when I saw near the Sacred Forest Meadow a man. He wore black armor and a black cape too. He was throwing something on a wall in the Forest Maze, I wasn't close enough to see, and a white light opened up on it. He was about to step into the light when a bunch of Deku scrubs jumped out and hit him with their nuts. He cursed the Deku Tree for sending them to stop him and fought back, kicking and using magic. I've never seen a MAN use magic before. Anyways, however many scrubs he destroyed, more would take their place until he finally ran off. The scrubs went away after the man left, but one had seen me watching and it came after me, and.."  
  
"… you ran into the light to get away and ended up here, is that it?" Jack inquired politely. He didn't want to be mean to this wondrous boy. "It followed you I take?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess it thought I was with the man in black, but I lost it in the strange garden out there," Rando pointed towards the patio area. "That's where I ended up after I ran into the light. After I stepped through I looked back and there it was. Now that the scrub is gone I hope the light is still open so I can go home." He lowered his head again. Jack thought he saw a little sadness.  
  
"Let's go check, shall we?" He put a hand on Rando's shoulder, and he looked up and Jack with a smile. Together, the stepped back onto the patio.  
  
Rando lead Jack by the hand towards the backyard grills being sold behind the plants. "It was those large metal things I ran into first, so it would have to be around here." They looked about until Rando saw a radiance along the back fence, "There it is!! It's still open!!" He and Pava leapt and flew about respectively, "We're going home Pava!!"  
  
Jack gave a look of approval, but considered the aspect of the light being there. {Ganondorf. That had to be the man in black Rando meant. That means he cursed the Deku Tree because It had sent scrubs to keep him from entering this world. Who knows what damage he could do. His Magic in our world, and our technology in his. The Tree has to be protected, and the Kokiri are not fighters, except Link, but if Gannondorf is stopped before the Deku Tree needs to call Link, Then maybe the Deku Tree can close the doorway between worlds. I have the knowledge of the game, and there's no time to lose informing anyone else.}  
  
While Jack was debating with himself, the light has begun to fade. Rando had stepped in front of it and blocked a few of its rays. "Bye, Jack. Thanks for everything you did for me." With a smile and a wave he turned and walked into the light. It enveloped him as a mother would her offspring, utterly and completely, and he was gone. The light shone as brightly as it always had.  
  
{Well,} Jack thought, {that settles it. Rando returning to his world didn't close it off. So now I HAVE to go. Gannondorf can't be allowed to come into this world.} With resolution in his head he strode towards the light, stopping just in front of it. Jack turned and looked back at his life. He took a deep breath and sighed. {So much for a routine life.} Turning back to the light he stepped through without hesitation.  
  
Unknown to Jack, after his following foot had disappeared into the light, It gave a bright flash and closed quickly. No sign or trace that it had appeared in the first place was left behind. 


	4. Deku Revelations

Deku Revelations  
  
Jack felt soft ground as his front foot landed. {Just one small step for me. Heh.} He took a breath and found a musky odor entering his nostrils. Standing with his back to the opening and looking about, he spied a wall of foliage to his immediate left. Leaning his head back, he could barely make out the top. "Must be the wall that separates the Lost Woods to the Sacred Forest Meadow." Jacks eyes lowered, "And that would probably be the entryway to the—"  
  
A howl erupted to his right, and Jack's cranium jerked to its owner. His wide-eyed expression only followed a drooping jaw. Not twenty feet from him stood a wolf-creature, sizing jack up for his next meal. Jack's mind raced through his mental encyclopedia for a man for this sliver-haired canine. {A wolfos, I should've remembered this. He looks hungry, so I better bolt!} Jack was off before the thought to run reached his feet. They knew what to do already. He scrambled for the opening into the Woods with the wolfos nipping at his hindquarters, diving through in desperation. Hitting the ground hard, Jack rolled quickly and stood on the opposite side of the opening, looking back and expecting the final attack from the wolfos. It stopped on the far end of the tunnel, growled low and angry, turned and returned to its post. Jack didn't want to think about the situation. Just the urge to run for it came forth clear and true. He spun about and looked for the next entrance. Three other openings in his particular vicinity, and Jack took a moment to think. {If I remember correctly, the "wrong" path will lead me to the village. That's where the tree is, so I guess that's my stop.} Thinking more with his back to the Meadow, Jack decided to venture into the right path. A few steps inside the tunnel everything was dark, and Jack felt a disorienting shift across his feet. A light formed at the end of the tunnel in front of him. Sounds of joyful life were permeating his ears, and Jack smiled. {I'm here.}  
  
As he had envisioned it, with gray clouds covering it, the village stood before him. Atop a cliff he could see the multitude of circles the trunk of each tree the young children used for their homes. {Children my ass. The youngest of them is probably older than I will ever live to be.} Jack grinned an awe-filled grin as he watched green-clothed youngsters go about their lives. Small pink lights followed them everywhere. {Every one gets a fairy. Just like it should be except for—} Jack saw a blue light out of the corner of his eye and twisted his perspective to get a better look. He lay on his stomach and poked his head over the edge to avoid detection. A strong wind blew at him and his shoulder length brown hair flew for an instant, airborne and free, before settling along his left side. Narrowing his vision, Jack adjusted his glasses for a clearer look. He smiled as he recognized the object in his sight. A small blonde boy, no older than ten, with a blue light trailing behind him. He strolled along past a tree house and turned his back to Jack to talk to someone the spy could not see. {I'm guessing that would be Saria. Hanging outside his house at the beginning. But what's that on his back?} Jack stared as hard as he could, but was unable to tell what exactly it was on the boy's back. {Just a lot of green from his tunic, and a diagonal stretch of darkness across it. Maybe just a trick of the light.} Jack looked up as the clouds parted for a moment to allow a sliver of yellow dart through and ricochet off whatever was on the young lad's back. The light bounce perfectly and struck Jack in the eyes. {Almost as if it was planned.} He chuckled to himself. {That would make the object metal, meaning he's got the sword, but no shield.} A thought struck Jack with a great force that almost pained him. {Maybe I still have time. If he hasn't the shield, then maybe I have just enough time to stop the curse, before he reaches the tree and it's too late. I gotta hurry!}  
  
Standing up, Jack looked around his Cliffside enclosure, at another edge, he could see the entrance to the tree area guarded by a large boy with a green tunic like all the others, and red hair like only some of the boys. {Can't get past him without drawing attention. Gotta be another way.} Frustrated, Jack looked up while he was facing the wall separating the Lost Woods. He saw that the top was just low enough to grab on to. Reaching a hand up, Jack felt the top. It was smooth, but rough enough for Jack to acquire a firm hold. {Well,} Jack mused, {here goes nuthin.} Jack pushed off with the strength in his feet and pulled with his arms, bring himself over the top. Jack felt proud of this. {Well what do you know. Looks like I'm not as limited here. Now I better move quick. Don't have much time.} Jack stood up carefully and searched the horizon, looking for his destination. It was not difficult to spot. In awe, Jack's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. {It's massive, my God.} Jack did not know whether he believed in God or not, but this was definitely a sight of biblical proportions.  
  
Try as he might Jack could not see the top of the tree. Its highest branches seemed to pierce the cloud cover. Dark brown bark with lush green leaves, the sign of health in a tree. That was not, however what inspired Jack's awe. It was the humongous eyelids, nose and mustache covered in bark. Jack focused a bit, and actually thought that the great tree was breathing. That snapped him back. {He's not gone yet. I think I made it.} He broke into a full sprint towards the tree, and stopped when he came across a drop off point. Jack no longer cared if anyone knew he was here, and cried out at the top of his lungs the call he had in his mind, respectful but forcing.  
  
"I beseech thee, great Deku Tree!!" Jack called, his voice already beginning to strain slightly. It had been some time since he has had to scream this much at once. "I have come from another world in search of a way to both go home, and to make certain that no more entries are made to either world! Will you help me? Or has the Man in Black Armor sealed your fated already!?"  
  
Jack bent over hard and coughed out the pain in his lungs. {I havta work out my lungs more. Wonder if it work--} Jack's question was answered as a deep and gravel voice boomed all around him. Its tone was gentle, but did not seem to come from the tree itself, as its mouth did not move. It appeared, to Jack, that the voice was being generated inside his own mind.  
  
"What you ask is a contradiction in itself, young stranger."  
  
Jack had no interest in a conversation trapped in his own mind, so he spoke aloud to the tree, "I'm not shocked that you are not surprised by my appearance here. You probably know everything that happens in the Wood, but what do you mean by a contradiction?"  
  
"It is true that I am cursed, and my time is limited to merely hours, and it IS true that I have the power, through use of the Forest Emerald, to send thee to thy home, but I cannot seal the crack between worlds, even though thy known entryway has closed in on itself and shan't return."  
  
Jack nearly stumbled over his own shock. The portal had been closed this whole time. "but if the portal is closed, how can there still be a "crack" between my world and this one?" His voice was filled with puzzlement and concern with the fact that he was too late to save the tree. {Bastard moves fast, he does.}  
  
"Aye, lad that he does, the rogue," Jack lowered his head and silently punished himself for forgetting that the tree could read his thoughts. "The 'portal', as thou wouldst call it, is merely a step into a void that is neither thy realm nor this, and that is were the barrier is damaged, allowing passage for any varlet willing and able to make the journey. The only way to stop another opening is to put an end to the maker's ability. The Man in Black must be stopped before he can create another bridge to thy realm. Only then, will thy realm be forever safe from his mischief."  
  
Jack's mind formulated a question, but the Deku Tree was too quick to allow him to speak it first. "Thou should visit the Great Fairies throughout our realm. Mayhap one may know of a way to mend the tear from the current malice." After a moment, the tree spoke again, "Mayhap thou might join the young lad coming to see me soon, I have a sense that he shall see much of this realm before his adventure is complete. You know his name, much like thou wouldst know of this place and the boy's origin and destiny. I see it all in thy mind, young Jack. Much I do not understand, but I know enough to know that thou will aid him verily."  
  
"I will do my best to help, Deku Tree." Jack spoke finally, a calm smile appearing on his face. His ear caught a rustling noise and his eyes followed it to the source. To his right, Jack saw the trail leading to the village, and the young blonde boy cautiously making his way down it. Jack kneeled and stayed hidden for a moment. {He may think I'm his enemy if I just appear. Plus I've no weapon to fight with, so I wouldn't do much good against a raging boy with a sharp object.}  
  
The Deku Tree's voice punctured his train of thought with his gentle tone and deep voice, "Fear not, for when thou makest thyself known to young Link, a strong weapon will be provided for thee."  
  
Jack nodded and thought a kind thank you to the tree, but continued to watch the boy, sword drawn and shield ready, walk slowly down the grass- covered corridor. Behind him, a mound of dirt shook and exploded as a large blue bulb arose on a single green stalk. Jack observed in silent amazement as the boy turned expertly and poised his shield in defense. The bulb tilted towards him and split down the middle, revealing a mouth, to apparently chomp the lad in two with. As it dove at him, the small warrior performed a graceful backflip away from the monster. Jack watched eagerly as the boy landed, darted forward before it could raise its oversized head, and stabbed his blade into the bulb. It switched and twirled, then fell dead. The boy took pride in his first kill, not noticing the second bulb monster rising behind him. Jack noticed, and positioned himself over it, calculating the jump. {A good ten feet to the ground itself. No problem.} With all his strength, Jack leapt up, not out, into the air. Hoping he would land as he wanted to. On his way down, he thrust his feet out and gave a bitter war cry. {Into the breach we go. Let the games begin,} he thought just before his heels made contact. 


End file.
